Getting rid of...

     An absolute must in contemplating any move to a small space is deciding which stuff to get rid of.

     That’s a ridiculously simple statement but, trust me, this is one of the most emotionally and physically exhausting challenges you will ever undertake. It is the dark secret of senior moves, seldom talked about until the time comes—and the time will come.

     When I moved my Mom from her home of 50 years into a one-bedroom apartment in a senior living community, my wife and I faced a house full of stuff: boxes, stacks of old bills and receipts, ancient toys and gimcracks that hadn’t been touched in decades, letters, photographs, clothing of every description—a half-century’s accumulation of things treasured, not so treasured, kept just in case, forgotten, dated, ruined by time.

     We had to figure out what was important, why, what might be missed in a month or so, what might be of value to others. We got through the move, culminating with us and a faithful friend standing hip-deep in packing boxes of all sizes in my mom’s new apartment, ultimately and miraculously finding a storage space (or family attic or cellar) for all of it.

     In considering a move to a small space, an ADU or a granny pod, you will preserve sanity by developing a systematic approach to sorting and getting rid of clutter. Perhaps not surprisingly, a small army exists out there of people with plans, concepts and commercial services to help you get the job done. A brief sampling:

     The KonMari method, which essentially involves emptying all closets, drawers and bookshelves, one category after another, and evaluating the resulting stacks in terms of what can be discarded vs. what “inspires joy.”

     The 365 Less Things method focuses on giving away, selling or throwing away one item from storage every day for an entire year. It helps, of course, to have that much time available and, of course, patience.

     For a packing party, pretend you’re moving now and pack up everything from closets, drawers and shelves, then extract what you need day-by-day to live or enjoy yourself. After a reasonable amount of time (weeks, months), there will be a residual of stuff that was never touched. Those are the candidates for removal from your house and life, whether giving or throwing away, resulting in a move that just might be manageable.

     Check out all of these resources online, as well as the concept of minimalism itself (you’ll find a treasure trove on all this), in preparing for your move. You won’t be guaranteed, maybe even allowed to hope, that all will go smoothly and efficiently. But you just might reduce the unavoidable pain and sweat involved in moving to that small home.